Interdisciplinary Innovation: Abortion 2.0 Understanding the patient experience with abortion on the internet

Leo Han, Oregon Health & Sciences University

Project abstract

In today’s web–first world, the first source that many patients turn to for information and perspective on abortion is the internet. The internet is an easily accessible, unregulated source of information as well as a public space to disseminate messages and opinions. In the case of abortion, distortion, misinformation and bias permeate through the digital landscape.

We propose to rigorously evaluate abortion on the internet; both in how the public sees and discusses abortion and how abortion research is translated for lay mediums. This award will support data collection using existing web-focused internet tools, as well as create algorithms for acquiring abortion specific data from different web platforms. We will conduct remote and in person collaborative planning workshops to review data collection approaches, revise our approach, and plan our analysis strategy.

I have assembled a unique, interdisciplinary team with expertise in abortion services, abortion services research, new media, and digital analytic methods to undertake this study. I'm a Family Planning Fellowship-trained, Ob-Gyn faculty at Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU). I have a track record of working with Blair Darney, PhD, MPH (OHSU), a reproductive health services researcher, and Lisa Han, MA, a media studies scholar from the University of California, Santa Barbara. We are joined by Jonathan Albright, PhD, a professor of media analytics at Elon University. The planning phase will allow us to deepen our collaboration and develop an analysis plan. Under the second phase, we will carry out analyses and develop future research focused on interventions.